Cook County, 18 miles NW of the Loop. Local legend claims that the suburb of Park Ridge contains the highest point in Cook County. While this is not true, the name is appropriate, reflecting the town's park-like setting along a gentle ridge.

The first residents of the area were the Potawatomi. After their removal under terms of the 1833 treaty, Yankee settlers from New England and upstate New York began trickling in and laying out farms. They honored their eastern heritage
by calling the district Maine Township. Most prominent among these early people was Mancel Talcott, who built a log cabin
and a bridge over the Des Plaines River near the present site of Touhy Avenue and served as postmaster.

Industry came to Maine Township in 1854 with the opening of George Penny's brickworks. When the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du
Lac Railroad (later the Chicago & North Western) began running shortly afterward, Penny arranged to have the trains stop by building his
own station. The new community that grew up around the station was informally known as Pennyville, until Penny himself suggested
the name Brickton.

"Modern kitchen," Park Ridge, 1910

By 1873 the population of Brickton was 405. The brick pits had been worked out, so when the residents voted to incorporate
that year, the village was renamed Park Ridge. Over the next decades, as Park Ridge established its identity as a residential
community, its leaders sought to develop the look of a traditional New England town, with large homes on wide lots and a profusion
of trees. Apartments were banned and industrial development discouraged.

Park Ridge experienced a major building boom during the 1910s and '20s. City dwellers discovered the pleasant surroundings
and convenient commuter trains. From 2,009 in 1910, the population ballooned to 10,417 in 1930. Anticipating annexation pressure from Chicago, the village had reorganized as the city of Park Ridge in 1910. Maine East High School and the landmark
Pickwick Theater date from this era.

The depression of the 1930s halted the boom. During the 1940s, some housing for war-industry workers was built. However, significant
expansion of Park Ridge did not begin until the 1950s, as part of America's postwar suburbanization. The population rose from
16,602 in 1950 to 42,466 two decades later. Aiding the growth was the opening of nearby O'Hare Airport, as well as the construction of two tollways and the Northwest (now Kennedy) Expressway.

As its population grew, Park Ridge moved to increase its tax base by encouraging office development and allowing a limited
number of apartments. Lutheran General Hospital relocated from Chicago, and a second high school (Maine South) opened in 1964. In later years, as the community filled up
its vacant land and property values soared, builders began to tear down small, older homes and replace them with huge new
dwellings.

Park Ridge entered the twenty-first century as a mature, upper-middle-class residential suburb. The population continues to
be largely white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, but now with a significant number of PolishRoman Catholics. Concerns include maintaining the residential strengths of the community and alleviating the noise from O'Hare Airport.

Park Ridge, IL (inc. 1873)

Year

Total
(and by category)

Foreign Born

Native with foreign parentage

Males per 100 females

1900

1,340

—

—

—

1930

10,417

11.6%

34.3%

94

10,403

White (99.9%)

14

Negro (0.1%)

1960

32,659

4.9%

25.0%

94

32,623

White (99.9%)

5

Negro (0.0%)

31

Other races (0.1%)

1990

36,175

10.5%

—

88

35,225

White (97.4%)

8

Black (0.0%)

5

American Indian (0.0%)

835

Asian/Pacific Islander (2.3%)

102

Other race (0.3%)

467

Hispanic Origin* (1.3%)

2000

37,775

12.7%

—

90

36,031

White alone (95.4%)

90

Black or African American alone (0.2%)

24

American Indian and Alaska Native alone (0.1%)

1,004

Asian alone (2.7%)

18

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (0.0%)

329

Some other race alone (0.9%)

279

Two or more races (0.7%)

1,113

Hispanic or Latino* (2.9%)

John R. Schmidt

Bibliography

Blouin, Nancy. Park Ridge, Illinois: A Photo History. 1994.

Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce. Park Ridge, 1873–1973: A Century of Pride. 1973.

Park Ridge Library has various clippings in its Heritage Room, as well as four videotapes of oral history interviews conducted
from 1985 to 1987.